Yet again, I'm glad of The Guardian. On successive days, I read about two people making a serious difference. Andrew Moffat is a junior school teacher who left his Birmingham school after parents objected because he had told the children he was gay. did he give up? Absolutely not. He moved across Biirmingham to another school, where he's pioneered a No Outsiders policy - i.e. we all belong. Muslim, Christian, Atheist. gay, straight, something in between. and this has the support of his headteacher, and the Muslim families wo make up 98.9 of the families whose kids he teaches.

In 2000 Eoin McLennan-Murray was governor of Blantyre House prison when he was removed at short notice. There was a huge raid on the prison, looking for ammunition, explosives and drugs, none of which were found. All 130 prisoners were tested, but all results were negative. what was going on? An enlightened, constructive regime, that's what, and of course there are those who don't like to consider that such a thing is possible. Like Moffat, McLennan-Murray kept going, became a governor somewhere else, and continues to be a sane, influential voice for prison reform. These people are precious, and require our support.